A prior art magnetic head supporting mechanism used with HDDs is generally built up of a slider having an electromagnetic transducer element, a suspension for supporting the slider, and an interconnecting pattern connected to the electromagnetic transducer element.
The electromagnetic transducer element comprises a magnetic pole and coil for converting electric signals to magnetic signals, and vice versa, a magnetoresistance effect element for transforming magnetic signals to voltage signals, and so on, each being fabricated by thin-film techniques, assembly techniques, etc. The slider is formed of non-magnetic ceramics such as Al2O3—TiC or CaTiO3 or a magnetic material such as ferrite, and has a generally cuboidal shape. The surface (air bearing surface) of the slider opposite to a disk medium is configured into a shape suitable for generating pressure to fly the slider over the disk medium at a small spacing. The suspension for supporting the slider is formed by bending, punching or otherwise processing a resilient stainless sheet.
When the slider is used in actual applications, static electricity is generated at the slider. This static electricity is generated due to a sliding movement between the flying surface of the slider and the surface of a disk medium at contact start stop (CSS), contact of the flying surface of the slider with the surface of the disk medium which is caused by a very small amount of flying of the slider with respect to the surface of the disk medium rotating at high speed, friction between the slider and the air, etc.
Static electricity, when generated at the slider, often gives rise to an electrostatic breakdown of the electromagnetic transducer element. To avoid this, most magnetic heads have sliders connected to a ground (e.g., JP-A's 2-61810, 2-244419 and 8-111015). The aforesaid JP-A 2-61810 discloses a thin-film magnetic head wherein a conductor electrically connected to a magnetic core mounted on a slider is bonded to a gimbal part of a suspension at an earth potential by means of an electrically conductive adhesive agent. The aforesaid JP-A 2-244419 discloses that the side of a slider and a suspension are bonded together by means of an electrically conductive adhesive agent. The aforesaid JP-A 8-111015 discloses a magnetic head system wherein a ground electrode is mounted on a flexible wiring substrate provided on a suspension, and then electrically connected to a slider.
On the other hand, an HDD is increasingly required to be downsized with ever-higher recording density and, hence, have ever-higher track density and ever-narrower track width. To improve tracking precision in a high-density recording HDD, it is effective to provide the magnetic head with a microactuator for effecting a micro-displacement of the electromagnetic transducer element or slider with respect to the suspension. Such a microactuator, for instance, is disclosed in JP-A's 6-259905, 6-309822 and 8-180623.